1st Bienal de Montevideo is an international visual arts biennial, hosting over 50 artists from five continents, to be held from 23 November 2012 – 30 March 2013 at the Grand Hall of the Main Branch of the Banco de la República Oriental del Uruguay.
The General Curator of this cultural undertaking is Alfons Hug, who has acted as curator at several international events, such as the São Paulo Biennial on two occasions, the Biennial of the End of the World, in Ushuaia, Argentina, ILLA Curator of the Venice Biennale 2011 and of the Curitiba Biennial 2011. At present, he is the Director of the Goethe Institute of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Co-curators are Paz Guevara and Patricia Bentancur.
The first edition of the Montevideo Biennial will be entitled El Gran Sur (The Great South) and, in the words of its curator, “will seek to determine the existence of a distinctive aesthetic dimension under the Southern Cross”.
The event ”once again places Uruguay at the centre of attention. From being a beacon of modernity in the early 20th century, the country faded somewhat into the background but is now giving signs of resurgence and of a renewed appreciation of its identity.”
Collateral events will take place in other venues throughout the city, such as museums, cultural centres, art galleries, public areas, the airport, the port, even in the street. Lectures, seminars, debates, workshops, roundtable discussions and conferences will also take place at different points.
The First Montevideo Art Biennial is a Montevideo Biennial Foundation initiative. The Foundation is a non-profit institution whose mission is to organize cultural and educational projects in the area of visual arts and culture.